Kalpana Chawla
American astronaut (1962–2003) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 – 1 February 2003)[2] was an Indian-born American astronaut and aerospace engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to fly to space.[3][4] She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator aboard STS-87.[5]
Kalpana Chawla | |
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Born | (1962-03-17)March 17, 1962 |
Died | February 1, 2003(2003-02-01) (aged 40) Over Texas, U.S. |
Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. |
Citizenship |
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Education | Punjab Engineering College (BEng) University of Texas, Arlington (MS) University of Colorado, Boulder (MS, PhD) |
Awards | |
Space career | |
NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 31d 14h 54m[1] |
Selection | NASA Group 15 (1994) |
Missions | STS-87 STS-107 |
Mission insignia | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Aerospace engineering |
Thesis | Computation of Dynamics and Control of Unsteady Vortical Flows (1988) |
Chawla's second flight was on STS-107, the final flight of Columbia, in 2003. She was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the spacecraft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere on 1 February 2003.[6] Chawla was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor,[7] and several streets, universities, and institutions are named in her honor.[8][9][10]